"So father gave you his permission to enter the town just like that?" The question emerged more like a thought in his memories.
"And what was the condition?"
The woman with pearl white hair levitated in the river of his memories,
"It's not that difficult as you're imagining it to be," she replied casually, "he only wanted me not to cause any problems and that's all. You won't believe now but I am a rather peaceful being."
August scoffed mentally,
"Yeah, like you said. I don't believe it."
The woman let out a chuckle, then she continued to dive deeper into his memories.
She wiped the fog from both what he already knew and for what he did not—superimposing reality on his fragmented memories until they became whole.
She did help him to put the various pieces together, like the arachnid's attack and the death of the mages Bren and Hesk—the incident that still haunts their town.
From her eyes, August was witnessing everything about his past self.
Not to mention the past of his parents which remained a much greater mystery to him, his whole life.
Of course, there was the suspicion that she could manipulate his memories and twist them on her own accord. But by the time this thought surfaced it was already too late.
However, the truth was that he trusted her this much at least—even after she had betrayed him.
With that thought August fell again into illusion —or maybe …the reality that has already happened.
— —
Time passed in a flash, August was three years old now.
Compared to his peers, the boy was somewhat late—he hadn't properly learned how to walk, and could only crawl on the floor.
His father wasn't worried as much, he had faith that August would learn everything with time.
However, his mother was constantly worried about the well being of her child.
Then again a mother's heart could never rest easy, especially if the matter consisted of her child.
The Sun was out and shining brightly in the clear blue sky.
Today was a very special day.
"Calm down dear, why are you so worried?" Valerius comforted his wife as they were preparing to head out.
"How can I remain calm?" She said, her eyes looking at August with anxiety, "you talking about worried? …I am afraid."
Valerius, seated nearby looked at his wife with relaxed expression,
"Afraid of what? It's just a stupid test —about knowing the order our child has aptitude for. It's nothing but a heads up for us, for him."
"Think about this by knowing his order we can teach him towards a better future. You should be happy if anything else."
Sophia sat on a chair nearby and heaved a deep sigh, her face shrouded with nervousness,
"I am happy, but you know I fear what if his aptitude does not level up to the mage order?"
"So what?" He asked. "Are you afraid he'll be unattuned?"
"No…" she replied with a dejected expression. "That would also be nice if he didn't have aptitude for spellcraft at all. It's the other …order that fears me."
At the mention of this Valerius' expression also grew somewhat somber. But he kept the cheerful smile regardless of that—
"Hey look at me," He cupped her face in his hands. "The ambivalent order that you're afraid of isn't so common you know. Humans who are born under that order are what …like we can even count them on fingers."
He gave her a reassuring smile,
"What is the possibility that every bad thing will happen to only us? You've suffered enough, we ..have suffered enough. I think by this time gods should be bored of watching us fall into misery."
At his words Sophia let out a chuckle,
"I think you're right," She said. At the moment her gaze fell on August who had just managed to stain his clothes.
"Oh baby…" Sophia approached him quickly, lifted him up in her arms. After playfully scolding the stain which had managed to dirty her son's clothes she went to change August into something else.
Valerius watched them with a joyous smile and slowly his smile turned dim as they left.
While he had managed to confront his wife, in truth the same thought was bugging his mind too.
In this world the order Ambivalence was a curse. It was the worst fate a human being could possess.
Even so, ambivalent humans were rather a rarity; it wasn't something to be unheard of either.
Ambivalence was like a bridge between an unattuned and a mage. For a person climbing the orders down from unattuned it was a bridge indeed, a fruitful one at that.
However, for someone to be born in this order was as similar as being stuck in the middle of a violent flood with nothing but a loose rope to cling to.
What was worse, Valerius in all his life hadn't heard even one name who had managed to climb up that rope.
Well, not like he could do anything now that is.
The situation was already out of his hands.
All he could do was pray to the gods that his worst dream would never come true.
Little did he know—fate was already sharpening its blade—a blade neither merciless nor forgiving.
The winners aren't always rewarded and losers don't always pay the price.
— — — — —